Winter in Plano, TX, can be harsh on lawns and it’s impossible to find a solution that will keep yours completely safe. That being said, though, calling on CitiTurf and letting our experts take care of all the details can help you make sure your lawn is fully winterized and ready to take the cold season heads-on. If you do choose to contract us, here are five of the techniques we’ll employ, in order to prevent your plants from suffering damage this winter.
Protection for trees against sunscald and frost cracks
Sturdy as they may look, tree trunks can also become very sensitive to the sharp differences in temperature that winter brings on. Direct exposure to sunlight in winter can be particularly damaging for the bark on your trees, since alternating warmer and colder weather will leave them vulnerable to sunscald and frost cracks. As such, CitiTurf experts can either paint the trunks directly facing south and southwest in white latex, or wrap them in paper and other insulating materials. White latex paint deflects the light, while wraps can look better than paint and will keep the temperature of the trees’ trunks at a relatively constant level.
Wraps for evergreens
Evergreens are as beautiful as they are fragile and heavy snowfalls plus serious ice can damage them to no end – as can the desiccation caused by winter winds, which causes lawn soil to dry out. In order to avoid this typically wintry pitfall, we can wrap said plants in burlap, or in thick twine mesh. We will leave the top open, because we want the plant to benefit from whatever nourishment natural sunlight will provide in wintertime.
Timely pruning and irrigation for trees and shrubs
Frost damage will occur that much more often in trees and shrubs that have not been pruned at the right time. We will never prune your landscape in late fall or early winter, but wait the cold season out. Pruning is that much more efficient (and far less dangerous for the plants) when done in mid-spring. It’s also important to properly irrigate your trees and shrubs, as a strong root system in winter will help them survive (and even avoid) having their leaves scorched, blighted, or damaged by winterburn. Our fall irrigation schedule includes a thorough soaking in late fall, to allow the water to permeate the ground properly.
Mulching for perennials
You may not know this, but there is a point to mulching in winter, even after the soil has frozen. CitiTurf lawn care professionals will apply a 2 to 2.5 inches of mulch after the year’s first freeze, as this helps keep perennials safe from frost heave. How so? Soil covered in mulch will not warm up suddenly following winter flare-ups in temperature. Its relatively low and constant temperature will help the roots of perennials grow strong and deep, thereby protecting the plants.
Warding rodents off trees and shrubs
Rodents such as rabbits and voles are that much more likely to nest up on your lawn in winter, since the cold weather will send them off scouring for food. You don’t want them feeding on the roots and trunk of your trees and shrubs, do you? Since we, at Citi Turf, know that you don’t, we can help by installing plastic collars and wire mesh around their trunks, and we can also spray them with our powerful rodent repellant solution.
